PUTTING A SHINE ON; FAIR TO OFFER SEASIDE WEATHER, FUN.

Byline: Paul O'Donoghue Staff Writer

While some inland valleys sweltered in temperatures nearing 100 degrees Tuesday, Drip-Drop the sheep was enjoying a cooling haircut and spritz of water in the shade of the sheep barn at the Ventura County Fair.

Melissa Wonderly who, with her sister, Jennifer, has 16 sheep entered in competitions at the fair, was gently hand shearing and, alternately, combing and misting Drip Drop, a 7-month-old ewe, until her fine white coat was a velvety texture.

``We're getting her ready and all pretty for when we show her Friday,'' said Melissa, a junior at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

``We've been doing this for 15 years so we've had a lot of practice,'' she said.

The fair, which opens today and continues until Aug. 15, is expected to draw 250,000 people to Seaside Park in Ventura, according to publicist Davlin Raley.

Outside the entrance Tuesday, American and California flags fluttered in the strong sea breeze that made for temperatures in the mid- to high-70s.

The sound of country and western music over the public address mingled with that of hammers, bleating and a range of animal and human noises as workers, farmers and merchants hurried around, on foot and on motorized carts, ferrying equipment and people, and putting finishing touches on the event.

In a straw cowboy hat and wearing a tool belt, woodshop teacher Dave Circi and his 13-year-old son, Paul, were erecting panels for a western style stall where funnel cakes will be sold to benefit Buena High School Marching Band in Ventura.

He took time out to explain how the cakes are made.

``You take pancake batter and pour it through a funnel, and it comes out the other end and looks like a plate of boiled kelp or, my wife says, boiled brains,'' he said.

But they taste pretty good, he said.

``I guarantee you'll come back for more after tasting them,'' said Circi, who teaches at Channel Islands High School in Oxnard.

From atop a stepladder, Paul, who plays snare drum with the band, said he was looking forward to finishing the stall.

``It's dirty work,'' he said, wiping sweat from his brow. ``I've been working nonstop for the past three days. It's hard work.''

A smattering of visitors wandered around the fair as the smell of food wafted from stalls selling a range of goods, from barbecued chicken to fish tacos and American Indian fry bread.

At another animal pen, Will Goldthorpe of Santa Barbara was sweeping out straw near his Ankole Watusi cattle, which have enormous horns and are native to East Africa.

Goldthorpe, who has a 500-acre ranch, breeds the cattle for meat he says is leaner and increasingly popular with the health-conscious.

But it is the cattle's exotic appearance that draws gasps of wonder, he said.

``People love to see them, a lot say `Oh, my God,' when they see them first,'' said Goldthorpe, who originally hails from England but has been showing the animals at the fair for 12 years. ``People come back year after year to see them.''

Elsewhere, the brightly colored Ferris wheel and other amusements stood ready to swing in action.

``We just love the fair, it's wonderful,'' said Melissa Arias, 19, from Thousand Oaks who was with her brothers Jeff, 16, and Adam, 13. ``We've been going for years and years.''

THE FACTS:

The 1999 Ventura County Fair, with the theme ``Reflections of Yesterday,'' will run from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. today through Aug. 15 at Seaside Park, Harbor Boulevard and Figueroa Street in Ventura.

Admission is $6 for adults; $3 for seniors age 55 and over; $3 for children ages 6-12; and free for children 5 and under.

Off-site parking is available with free shuttle service at the following locations: San Buenaventura State Beach ($5), Ventura County Government Center, Buenaventura Mall, Ventura High School and at the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Schooner.

For additional information, call [phone] or log on to www.seasidepark.org.

All entertainment is free with fair admission.

VENTURA COUNTY FAIR 1999 - GRANDSTAND ENTERTAINMENT

7 p.m. Today - VRA Street Stock and Pony Stock and CDCRA Dwarf Car Racing plus Demolition Derby.

EXHIBITS

Today - Moorpark Historical Society.

CONTESTS AND COMPETITIONS

2 p.m. Today - Lemon juice drinking. Entry fee $1.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color -- ran in Conejo and Simi only) At left, Jerry Mankins of Laveen, Nev., replaces light bulbs on his family's costume portrait attraction. Above, Juan Luis Martinez Rivas readies a game booth for the opening of the fair.

(3) David Kaiser of Manteca shears a sheep that will be entered in a show at the Ventura County Fair.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

Box: The facts (see text)